Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

By combining advanced high-precision electron microscopy and computational methods, researchers have shed new light on the role of strain in nanoparticle catalysis. Catalytic metal nanoparticles supported on oxide substrates are used on a large scale in technological applications such as production of chemicals, abatement of air pollution and sustainable energy systems. The overall performance and durability of these systems is influenced by a range of factors, and every improvement could result in noticeable environmental and economic benefits.

As a promising large-scale energy storage technology, redox flow batteries (RFBs) are attracting increasingly more research attention. For RFB separators, the essential requirement is achieving high ionic conductivity with minimal cross-over at low cost. Researchers now have demonstrated a proof-of-concept graphene oxide (GO) membrane as separator for large-scale energy RFBs. Their work shows that the two-dimensional nanochannel structure and low frictional water flow inside micrometer-thick GO laminates make this material an attractive candidate membrane for large-scale energy storage systems.

The ability of nanochannels to regulate transported substances in confined spaces is of great research interest in innovative applications, such as high-resolution sensing, filtering, and high-efficiency energy utilization. In the last area, research on nanochannels in energy-related areas continues to face challenges such as low efficiencies, complex preparation processes, and high fabrication costs. Overcoming these challenges is an important and difficult task in the field of energy conversion, energy conservation, and energy recovery.

Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) are bioelectronic devices that utilize enzymes as the electrocatalysts to catalyze the oxidation of fuel and/or the reduction of oxygen or peroxide for energy conversion to electricity. EBFCs have already been demonstrated as wearable epidermal tattoo biosensors and in new work, researchers report the fabrication flexible EBFCs with flexible nanoporous gold electrodes that were modified with lactate oxidase and bilirubin oxidase for use as a lactate/O2 biofuel cell.

Finding low-cost solid materials capable of efficiently and safely replacing liquid electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries has been a considerable research interest over the past years. Of the various types of solid electrolytes that have been developed so far, composite polymer electrolytes exhibit acceptable Li-ion conductivity due to the interaction between nanofillers and polymer. By fabricating a pre-percolated network of ceramic filler instead of distributing particles in polymer, a 3D interconnected ceramic framework provides continuous pathways for ion conduction. This novel method will help to develop composite materials in a different but much improved way than conventional particle distributions.

Scientists report a systematic study involving theoretical and experimental approaches to evaluate the Li-ion storage capability in 2D atomic sheets of nonlayered MoO2. They describe a new process - polymer-assisted reduction - to make atomically flat 2D sheets of MoO2. Since MoO2 is not a 2D material, this process opens a new pathway to make 2D nanostructures from non-layered materials. By successfully making 2D atomic sheets of MoO2, the researchers fabricated a battery electrode in which the Li ion diffusion and electron transport are exceptionally fast.

Inspired by the designs printed on T-shirts, researchers recently reported a new class of wearable power sources. To explore the feasibility of power sources directly printed on cotton T-shirts, which look like letters or symbols, they chose electric double layer supercapacitors based on activated carbon materials as a model electrochemical system. These T-shirts look and behave like a normal T-shirt but feature printed supercapacitors in the shape of letters and symbols.